1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding blade knife, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a springless folding blade knife having a sliding sleeve member for locking the blade in a fully open or a fully closed position.
2. History of the Prior Art
The conventional folding blade pocketknife, which utilizes a spring-loaded knife blade has several disadvantages from the standpoints of safety and ease of use.
The knives are generally difficult to open causing injury to the user's fingernails. On the other hand, if the knife is easy to open, it may come open accidentally in the pocket.
Such conventional knives are held in the open position by a spring face against a cam member and therefore can be easily dislodged and accidentally closed causing injury to the user. Injury also often occurs during closing of such knives since after reaching a breakover point, they tend to snap closed under spring pressure.
A relatively recent innovation to pocketknives is a releasable locking mechanism which firmly locks the blade in an open position. In order to close such knives, a lever must be depressed. However, there is very little force required to open such knives, hence, permitting the knife to come open accidentally.